First United Methodist Church of Burlington, Vermont (21 Buell Street)
announces its Lenten Thursday noon recital series. These free programs are held
from 12:15 to 12:45. Light refreshments will be provided.
Feb. 21 Music for cello and organ; works by Bach and Seth Bingham.
Isah Webber, cellist; George Matthew, Jr., organist
Feb. 28 Music for English horn and organ; works by William Presser, Joyce Jones, Leo Sowerby,
and Seth Bingham.
Nadine Carpenter, English horn; George Matthew, Jr., organ
March 6 Francois Clenmns, Alexander Twilight Artist-in-Residence at Middlebury College, will
sing "The Life of Christ" by Roland Hayes
March 13 Tentative, program of organ and liturgical dance
The 2008 POE in New England will be held July 20 - 26 at Assumption College in
Worcester, Mass. If you know of a young person who is interested in attending,
please encourage them, ask about scholarship funding from the Vermont AGO, and seek
more information from the website: www.worcesterago.com
Dr. John Weaver has become the new organist/choir director at the East Craftsbury Presbyterian Church.
This Mailing of Pipe Notes includes membership cards for the Vermont Chapter
people. If you are a dual member, you should receive your membership card from your
primary chapter. Thanks are due to our very capable Treasurer, Alan Walker, for
collecting all the membership forms and typing and signing all of our membership
cards.
Adult Continuing Education Opportunity: Please pass this along to pianists you might think would find
this of interest.
First Congregational Church of Burlington is sponsoring a five week learning
experience for people who have piano skills, a love for church music, but no organ
playing experience, to develop a set of skills that would make them effective
service players. The course takes place on five Fridays in Lent, from 9:30 a.m. to
noon, in the sanctuary of First Church. Course dates are: February 15, 22, 29;
March 7 and 14, 2008.
The course is intended for pianists who
have little or no experience playing organ, either keyboards or pedals
have skills permitting them to read, learn and play four-part hymns at the piano
have skills to read, learn and play fluently keyboard music of the difficulty level of at least a J.S.
Bach 2-part invention
The course will address
similarities and differences between piano and organ playing
how to make the organ in your church sound good
how to be an effective musical leader from the keyboard
where to find the resources you need
The course goal is
to take you where you are, and bring you as far as you can go
assemble a collection of pieces typically played on piano that you can play confidently
on the organ
provide a set of simple techniques ("tricks of the trade") that will make the organ you
play sound wonderful and enhance worship services
The course is offered by David Neiweem, who is the music director at First Congregational, and who is also
Professor of Music and Marion B. Coe University Organist at the University of Vermont. The course is being
sponsored by the Music Ministry of First Church, so there is no charge to participants.
For further information, please contact David Neiweem at
David.Neiwee@uvm.edu or
call (802) 655-2768.
Marilyn Polson shares with us her experiences at last June's Region I Convention.
Providence is an attractive city, having re-invented and revived itself after
the urban decay that afflicted many American cities in the 1960s and 1970s. There
is a lot of green space and fairly tasteful modern architecture stands shoulder to
shoulder with more traditional neoclassical, Victorian and Art Deco style
structures.
After checking in to the Marriott Hotel and finding my roommate, Bunny
Thompson of New Hampshire, we joined a group having dinner in the hotel dining room.
I soon spotted Chapter member Jane Cook and invited her to join us. Later we also
made contact with members Jane Helms and Tacy Colaiacomo.
The evening's opening event was a Hymn Festival for Justice, Reconciliation,
and Peace in the World held at Blessed Sacrament R. C. Church, a red brick
Romanesque edifice. The Rhode Island Festival Brass and Providence Singers were
seated across the chancel in front of a very impressive white marble baldachino.
Mostly contemporary hymns alternated with offerings by the Brass and the Singers in
the large, reverberant space.
Monday morning opened at the Cathedral of St. John, Episcopal with a recital
by Patricia Snyder of music by New England composers Daniel Pinkham, Amy Beach,
Horatio Parker, Dudley Buck and our own Gwyneth Walker. The Hutchings/Andover organ
was in an unusual 1851 Hook case with the center flat under a Moorish arch.
Unfortunately, the church interior showed signs of long-standing water damage from a
leaking roof. The large stained glass windows in the side walls near the back were
braced and covered on the outside with plywood that was weathered and looked like it
had been in place for a long time.
I next attended Paul Jacobs' Masterclass in the splendid neoclassical First
Baptist Church in America founded in 1638 by Roger Williams. The present Meeting
House was built in 1775 with later alterations but still retaining the box pews.
Two young ladies participated as well as New Hampshire's Dean Liz Black. Goes to
show that even we mature organists can benefit from expert coaching. Lunch with the
Region One leadership followed at Beneficent (darn, that sounds like an insurance
company!) Congregational Church hosted by Regional Councillor Lary Grossman. Over a
box lunch we discussed various ongoing programs including the upcoming Pipe Organ
Encounter to be held in July at Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts. I also
met briefly with the Region One Nominating Committee.
The first afternoon workshop was "Bringing Children to the organ - Forbid Them
Not!" led by a panel and using materials published by Wayne Leupold. I was
especially interested in this because there is a young man, seven years old, in my
church who is very interested in the organ. He often waits shyly at a distance
after the postlude and I encourage him to come and play. One Sunday he stood on the
pedalboard with his feet in an open fifth and rambled on the manuals full blast.
WOW!
Up the hill at Brown University was our next stop at Sayles Hall, home to a
large three manual Hutchings-Votey organ of 1903. University Organist Mark
Steinback gave a recital, "Anton Keiller and His Circle" that also included music by
Hindemith and Reger.
After dinner in the city we all reconvened at the Baptist Church for a
standing-room-only recital by Paul Jacobs. Because the organ is in the rear gallery
there was a large video screen set up in the front of the sanctuary. Later in the
week I was chatting with the videographer and suggested that he probably would
benefit knowing the piece being played so he could focus his camera on either the
manuals or the pedalboard as the music proceeded. His reply was that Paul would tip
him off a few measures beforehand as to where the action was to be! The program was
"the Reubke", Franck and Reger, all played from memory. Paul was so intent and
focused that I can see where the printed music would just get in the way of
interpretation.
The next day we were off to Newport where I had signed up for the tour of the
Cornelius Vanderbilt mansion, the Breakers. My sister, who had visited the imposing
residence some years ago, warned me to prepare to have my socks knocked off. And,
even wearing sandals, I could feel some tugging at my feet! In that awesome space I
found myself whispering with the others on the tour. On the grand back lawn facing
on to Rhode Island Sound were some large white tents set up for the reception
celebrating the Thursday arrival of the Tall Ships.
Next stop - St. George's School in Middletown. The famous chapel was smaller
than I expected and mostly covered in sheathing and scaffolding. Inside there was
water damage around the bases of some of the tall stained-glass windows. Recitalist
Brink Bush offered a program of German Romantic music on the large new Garland
organ.
Then back to Providence and the huge Lombard Romanesque Roman Catholic
Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul situated on a recently built large plaza, created
after the construction of Interstate 95 had encroached on the old neighborhood, that
gave the imposing building a very European feel. Dame Gillian Weir gave a
masterclass using the large, four-manual 1972 Casavant organ located in the left
transept. In a modern "square" case, it looked completely out of place in the
gorgeous nineteenth-century interior. I also found it to be a bit loud and
unpleasant sounding.
After dinner we were back at the Cathedral for a program celebrating the music
of Rhode Island native, the late C. Alexander Peloquin, director of music there for
40 years. The Gregorian Concert choir offered selections of Peloquin's compositions
spanning half a century.
On Wednesday morning we gathered at the Central Congregational Church. A
Beaux Arts cross-gabled building with a central dome, it was about the most un-Congregational
building I have ever seen. The recital was less than stellar so I
spent most of the tine studying the stunning stained-glass windows by J. A. Holzer
of the Tiffany Studio.
Wednesday afternoon saw us at Providence College, first for a panel discussion
"Artistry in Worship" where we all shared our diverse perspectives on achieving the
highest possible aesthetic in the worship service. Then, after a break, I went with
a group to the college's St. Dominic Chapel for an organ reading and playing session
using music signed out earlier at registration. I played a fairly straightforward
piece on the 2001 three-manual Holtkamp organ. Not bad for sight-reading although I
had been studying it all week. Later that venue was the site of a recital by
AGO/Quimby competition winner Raymond Nagem.
That evening we went back to the Cathedral for the closing gala recital by
Dame Gillian Weir. Seated some distance away from the organ, the mostly French
Romantic program was easy on the ears.
I stayed for the post-convention crawl on Thursday and we first went to the
large First Church of Christ Scientist high on the hill overlooking the city. Host
Peter Krasinski entertained us with a short program that included a transcription of
the Grieg "Peer Gynt Suite", the same as he played during the Organ Historical
Society Convention in 2005. And being a small group we poked through the organ in
the true meaning of "organ crawl".
The next stop was the Providence Performing Arts Center, a restoration of the
spectacular 1928 Leow's State Theater. The original Wurlitzer theater organ was
long gone but the space now houses a 1927 Wurlitzer organ originally in the Marbro
Theatre in Chicago, installed in this venue in 1982. Host Patrick Aiken told us
that not everything was working, including the "toy counter", and the instrument
needed to be voiced for its new home, but nonetheless it sounded great. Peter
Krasinski arrived and played either by ear or from memory the von Suppe chestnut,
the "Poet and Peasant Overture." Mr. Aiken offered to take us on a tour of one of
the pipe chambers flanking the stage but when I saw that access to the space 20 feet
overhead was by a vertical metal ladder, I opted out. No, thank you!!
Our last stop was the Phillips Memorial Baptist church in nearby Cranston.
The 1985 two-manual Angerstein organ is in the rear gallery of the spacious bright
room. We all were invited to play so I chose a hymn and I must say that it was the
first time I have played in sandals.
Overall, this convention was not as intense as the two Organ Historical
Society Conventions I have attended in the last two years. There was plenty of time
for socializing and we got plenty of exercise walking around the city. The weather
was pleasant the whole time and the Rhode Island Chapter is to be conmmended for
putting together a most enjoyable gathering.
The Charlotte Congregational Church, UCC will be in need of an organist as of
March 2, 2008. Their organist and choir director of 27 years will be leaving the
last Sunday in February. Contact person for this position is J. Donald Schultz, 180
Pierson Drive, Shelburne, VT 05482-6440, phone number (802) 985-2658 or e-mail:
jdonaldschultz@comcast.net
Ascension Lutheran Church needs an organist to play the organ and/or keyboard
at all regular church services and special services and oversee organ maintenance.
The successful candidate would be a Lutheran or one who is willing to learn the
Lutheran traditions and liturgy. The church organist is responsible to Pastor Nancy
Wright with oversight from the Worship and Music Comittee. Please contact the
pastor at the church. The phone number is (802) 862-8866 and e-mail is:
revnancywright@earthlink.net
An organist is needed the beginning of March for the West Lebanon
Congregational Church, West Lebanon, New Hampshire. The organist accompanies the
choir (but does not direct the choir). There is one Sunday, 10:00 a.m. service with
choir rehearsal at 8:30 a.m. There is no mid-week choir rehearsal. It is a two
manual tracker organ, that was fully re-conditioned in 2000. Salary negotiable.
Please contact Traci Ladue at (603) 448-1364.
The First Presbyterian Church in Barre, Vermont is seeking someone to be
responsible for providing appropriate organ/piano music and accompaniment for the
choir during their services of worship. The ideal candidate will have two years
experience playing for religious services; a bachelors degree in music performance,
sacred music or music education or a Service Playing Certificate; a desire to use
God's gift of music to enhance the spirituality of all worship services; and a
familiarity with diverse music styles. Please contact the pastor: Rev. Carl Hilton
VanOsdall, First Presbyterian Church, Barre, Vermont. E-mail:
cvhv@verizon.net(This position has been filled - web ed.)
The deadline for the March issue of Pipe Notes will be February 20. If you
have spring events to share, please send them to your newsletter editor soon so
others can enjoy the events in your area, too. And it's not too early to think about
summer events and getting them announced in the newsletter so members can save the
dates on their calendars.
